Conventionally, a vacuum processing apparatus has been used for performing on a semiconductor substrate, an LCD substrate or the like, various processes such as film forming process, etching, ashing, heat treatment and the like, under a depressurized atmosphere. In such an apparatus, a processing vessel for performing vacuum processing includes a vessel main body having an upper opening, and a lid attached to the vessel main body to be opened or closed. Further, as for this kind of apparatus, it has been known that a lid is rotatably attached to the vessel main body around the horizontal axis line through a hinge or the like.
For example, an opening/closing lid hinge mechanism of a vacuum processor has been known, wherein a gear mechanism is configured to open or close a lid around a horizontal axis line along a longitudinally elongated elliptic path (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-open application No. H11-101345 (particularly, FIG. 2)). By this mechanism, the lid can be opened or closed without being overhung at the outside of the vessel main body.
Further, a vacuum processor including a slide mechanism for horizontally sliding a lid and a rotation mechanism for rotating the lid around the horizontal axis line has been known (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-open Application No. 2001-185534 (particularly FIG. 6)). By using this mechanism, maintenance becomes easier, and at the same time, attaching or detaching a heavy object to or from the lid can be readily carried out.
However, in the former technology, a complicated mechanism needs to be provided to track the longitudinally elongated elliptic path during the opening or closing operation. Further, multiple or large-scale mechanism(s) need to be disposed around the lid to perform the sliding or rotational operation. Accordingly, the processor becomes expensive and large sized.
Still further, in these technologies, since the lid is rotated around the horizontal axis line to fully open the vessel main body, such a configuration cannot be adopted that a part of the processor (e.g., source material supply system) is disposed above the lid. As a result, not only is the foot print of the processor increased, the capability to maintain it is also undermined.
Still further, recently, there is a demand for a vacuum processing apparatus, wherein a source gas is produced by vaporizing a liquid source material or sublimating a solid source material, and is then supplied into a processing vessel. In this kind of apparatus, the conductance of a line provided between the source material vessel and the processing vessel has to be increased to ensure a supply amount of source gas, or to smoothly supply the source gas into the processing vessel. For this, the line provided between the source material vessel and the processing vessel must have a large diameter and short in length. However, in the configuration of the conventional apparatus, the line provided between the source material vessel and the processing vessel could not be made short.
Further, in the aforementioned technologies, since the lid is rotated around the horizontal axis line, if the source material vessel is fixed on the lid, the source material vessel will be tilted and thus, the source material accommodated therein is also tilted and cause other changes on the source material. Accordingly, a proper supply amount of source material cannot be achieved.